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South Carolina Legislative Update - March 17, 2014

March 17, 2014

South Carolina General Assembly

SC House approves $24 billion state spending plan

The S.C. House gave final passage to next year's $24 billion budget, H. 4701, last week and sent it to the Senate. The House spending proposal includes a 1.5 percent pay raise for state employees, 31 new State Law Enforcement Division agents, at least $65 million for an education initiative backed by Gov. Nikki Haley and temporary takeover of the John de la Howe School for at-risk youth by the state Department of Juvenile Justice.

State bill could protect property heirs

The Beaufort Gazette reports: "A bill before state lawmakers could offer better protection for Beaufort County heirs property owners, who are sometimes bullied out of ownership by third parties, according to local leaders. The new protections would give families and judges handling the sale of heirs property a better chance to either hang on to the property or fetch a fair-market price at a sale, state Sen. Tom Davis said." Read more here.S. 18is the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act.

In the News

2014 South Carolina Election Filing

Filing for the 2014 elections opened yesterday at noon and will close March 30 at noon. The primary is set for June 10, 2014, the primary runoff is scheduled for June 24 and the general election is on November 4. The entire South Carolina congressional delegation, including the two U. S. Senate seats, all the state constitutional officers and the South Carolina House of Representatives are up for election this year. To view information on who has filed for elected office, please visit the South Carolina Election Commission’s Candidate Tracking System by clicking here.

SC's federal health insurance

About 36,600 South Carolinians have purchased health insurance from the federal marketplace. Read more here.

No fees for plastic

Lawmakers say fees charged by local governments for paying taxes with credit cards is an unfair burden, and they want to eliminate them. But some local governments say those fees cover only what credit card companies charge them. Read more here.

McConnell: No Charleston merger bill this year

Legislative proposals to merge the College of Charleston and the Medical University of South Carolina, creating a larger research university in Charleston, will not have enough time to pass this year, Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell told The State. McConnell, one of the three finalists for president of the College of Charleston, added he might not need a merger with MUSC to put his alma mater on the same research-university footing as Clemson University and the University of South Carolina. If he gets the job, McConnell said he would push for legislation next year allowing the College of Charleston to offer doctorate degrees, creating a third full-fledged research university in the state. Read more here.